LieutKaffee's Draft Grades and Analysis

Jenkins is either the next Mike Wallace, Greg Jennings, or Victor Cruz. Or Jerry Rice. Home run pick and a brilliant find by the 49ers scouting department.
Grade: A+

2 - LaMichael James, RB, Oregon

The Sproles comparison is a compliment, but don't pigeonhole James just yet. He is very strong and tough and was a touchdown machine from inside the 10 yard line. He will break some big plays for this offense. If Harbaugh can free up a defensive end for a long TD on a wheel route, he can utilize James to the best of his abilities. He will prove to be the best RB in this draft, ahead of even Trent "ordinary" Richardson.
Grade: A+

4 - Joe Looney, OG, Wake Forest

Second round talent in the fourth; another brilliant pick by Harbaalke. They could have used a higher pick on an even better guard, such as DeCastro or Silatolu, but those picks were well-spent on impact players, so they did the next-best thing. Looney is a sure-fire starter and solidifies the offensive line.
Grade: A+

Rest of draft

The four players taken after the fourth round will all become top backups immediately, and some have upside for more. Brilliant picks. Brilliant trades for future assets, and brilliant agility moving up and down the board.
Grade: A+

Jenkins is either the next Mike Wallace, Greg Jennings, or Victor Cruz. Or Jerry Rice. Home run pick and a brilliant find by the 49ers scouting department.
Grade: A+

2 - LaMichael James, RB, Oregon

The Sproles comparison is a compliment, but don't pigeonhole James just yet. He is very strong and tough and was a touchdown machine from inside the 10 yard line. He will break some big plays for this offense. If Harbaugh can free up a defensive end for a long TD on a wheel route, he can utilize James to the best of his abilities. He will prove to be the best RB in this draft, ahead of even Trent "ordinary" Richardson.
Grade: A+

4 - Joe Looney, OG, Wake Forest

Second round talent in the fourth; another brilliant pick by Harbaalke. They could have used a higher pick on an even better guard, such as DeCastro or Silatolu, but those picks were well-spent on impact players, so they did the next-best thing. Looney is a sure-fire starter and solidifies the offensive line.
Grade: A+

Rest of draft

The four players taken after the fourth round will all become top backups immediately, and some have upside for more. Brilliant picks. Brilliant trades for future assets, and brilliant agility moving up and down the board.
Grade: A+

Overall grade: A+

Not so sure Looney will be a starter right away, but maybe in a year or two. I think Kilgore is the new RG this year.

Didn't know much about Jenkins, but the more I read, the more I like. Harbaugh says there are no holes in his game. That's good enough for me.

I gave the draft an overall B-, I like the first two picks, but don't love it. what happens with the fourth round and later picks may alter the grade later, I do like the the trading to get more picks later next year when a lot of niners will be FA, it was a wise decesion since most of the top guards were gone by the middle of the 2nd.

Jenkins is either the next Mike Wallace, Greg Jennings, or Victor Cruz. Or Jerry Rice. Home run pick and a brilliant find by the 49ers scouting department.
Grade: A+

2 - LaMichael James, RB, Oregon

The Sproles comparison is a compliment, but don't pigeonhole James just yet. He is very strong and tough and was a touchdown machine from inside the 10 yard line. He will break some big plays for this offense. If Harbaugh can free up a defensive end for a long TD on a wheel route, he can utilize James to the best of his abilities. He will prove to be the best RB in this draft, ahead of even Trent "ordinary" Richardson.
Grade: A+

4 - Joe Looney, OG, Wake Forest

Second round talent in the fourth; another brilliant pick by Harbaalke. They could have used a higher pick on an even better guard, such as DeCastro or Silatolu, but those picks were well-spent on impact players, so they did the next-best thing. Looney is a sure-fire starter and solidifies the offensive line.
Grade: A+

Rest of draft

The four players taken after the fourth round will all become top backups immediately, and some have upside for more. Brilliant picks. Brilliant trades for future assets, and brilliant agility moving up and down the board.
Grade: A+

Overall grade: A+

I like the Jennings comparison, after watching the highlights I thought the same thing. He also reminds me of Isaac Bruce a little as well.

Jenkins is either the next Mike Wallace, Greg Jennings, or Victor Cruz. Or Jerry Rice. Home run pick and a brilliant find by the 49ers scouting department.
Grade: A+

2 - LaMichael James, RB, Oregon

The Sproles comparison is a compliment, but don't pigeonhole James just yet. He is very strong and tough and was a touchdown machine from inside the 10 yard line. He will break some big plays for this offense. If Harbaugh can free up a defensive end for a long TD on a wheel route, he can utilize James to the best of his abilities. He will prove to be the best RB in this draft, ahead of even Trent "ordinary" Richardson.
Grade: A+

4 - Joe Looney, OG, Wake Forest

Second round talent in the fourth; another brilliant pick by Harbaalke. They could have used a higher pick on an even better guard, such as DeCastro or Silatolu, but those picks were well-spent on impact players, so they did the next-best thing. Looney is a sure-fire starter and solidifies the offensive line.
Grade: A+

Rest of draft

The four players taken after the fourth round will all become top backups immediately, and some have upside for more. Brilliant picks. Brilliant trades for future assets, and brilliant agility moving up and down the board.
Grade: A+

Overall grade: A+

Well you are clearly enthusiastic about this draft. With Oldninerdude backing you up that is impressive. I like the moving around for more picks and I like th first two picks. If they work out as well as last years draft we should be in for some solid players.

I completely agree. I actually had AJ Jenkins and LaMichael James set to go in the top 20 so we got fantastic value out of the first two days. And Looney might turn out to be the next Steve Hutchinson.

Originally posted by YungAce:
I completely agree. I actually had AJ Jenkins and LaMichael James set to go in the top 20 so we got fantastic value out of the first two days. And Looney might turn out to be the next Steve Hutchinson.

Baalke and Coach drafted for situations, not so much for players. They also are aware of the Wallace situation in Pitts, and will never have that kind of problem here. True we still have craps, but not for a whole lot longer. As for situation drafting, AJ and LaMichael were picked to fix the 3rd down weakness. One guy has great hands, good speed, great separation, the other out on the wings, basically means no more box 8. It also means probably a 2x better 3rd down conversion result, and will end up spreading the D, giving frank better lanes to run thru, if not hunter or jacobs. Jacobs is another situation guy, 3rd and half a yard (or 4th and a yard), plus in close in RZ. The LaMichael, jacobs, AJ, vernon, delanie,and Mario combo means no more box 8, and if they do go to that set, we will beat it virtually every time. My money is for AJ to be a better player than either of the top 3 WRs in draft. By yrs end I expect others to agree.

GM and Coach fixed our one most glaring need, 3rd down conversions and RZ. Remainder was D depth, and backups for kilgore. Grade A+ on first two picks alone. Stockpiling 3 picks for next yr is just gravy. Overall this is another redo of last yr, fixing the glaring need. They did.

Second round talent in the fourth; another brilliant pick by Harbaalke. They could have used a higher pick on an even better guard, such as DeCastro or Silatolu, but those picks were well-spent on impact players, so they did the next-best thing. Looney is a sure-fire starter and solidifies the offensive line.
Grade: A+

Overall grade: A+

Not to mention that early picks are best spent on impact players possessing god-given talent that can't be coached, e.g., speed, elusiveness, big hands, quick-twitch, etc., rather than players with talent that can be coached up utilizing only sweat and dedication, e.g., OLinemen.

Looney was a great selection where the Niners got him. No reason that he can't be as good or better than DeCastro and Silatulo. Heck, now that he's on the Niners, he's probably better than them right now!

I think a number of fans and analysts forgot the Niners were picking at #30 and already had a full roster. Jenkins and James were not the players most thought would be drafted. But, now that they're our guys, I think they'll be valuable additions to the offense. I can see why Harbaugh/Baalke were impressed with them both. Looney was a steal in 4th rd. I think he'll win the RG job. Fleming's a solid OLB and sure tackler. ST's at first, but should develop into solid b/u. Robinson's another steal...he'll bond w/Whitner, for sure, another guy who was told he was too small to succeed in the NFL. Slowey could be our eventual starting C. He's a warrior, having played everywhere on the Western Oregon OL, and built himself from 3 bench reps as a freshman to 38 at his pro day. Cam Johnson could be another steal...Mike Mayock had him at #50 on his list of top 100. Kid's got plenty of ability, just needs the right coaching, which Leavitt can provide.

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